19940821 Bhagavad-gītā 2.44

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Maharaj on August 21st 1994 in Bangalore Karnataka India. The class begins with the reading from the Bhagavad-gītā Chapter 2 Verse 44.

Translation: In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.

Purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda: [Devotees: Jai Prabhupāda] Samādhi means “fixed mind.” The Vedic dictionary, the Nirukti, says, samyag ādhīyate ’sminn ātma-tattva-yāthātmyam: “When the mind is fixed for understanding the self, it is said to be in samādhi.” Samādhi is never possible for persons interested in material sense enjoyment and bewildered by such temporary things. They are more or less condemned by the process of material energy.

Oṁ Tat Sat!

Thus, ends the translation & purport to text 44.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Kṛṣṇa has explained in the previous verse men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas. Which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets result in good birth, power and so forth being desirous of sense gratification opulent life they say that there is nothing more than this. But generally people are attracted by the Vedic promises of good wealth, health, fortune and these are the motivation of many of the practitioners of the Vedas and all religion.

But Bhagavad-gītā is teaching us about the post graduate state, graduate level with someone with more intelligence can understand that there is an eternal happiness, eternal peace, a higher purpose to life.

So, if someone is too much attached to sense enjoyment and they get bewildered by those things. Someone living in the material world is going to have enjoyment in the senses and sometimes he is going to be suffering that we can’t avoid.

That is also explained in Gītā just like summer and winter seasons are coming one after another. Right now in the summer we appreciate having the fan on, it gives us relief but if this was say in the month of January or February, then in the night if someone turns the fan on, people say what’s wrong? It’s too cold. So, the same fan, now is giving us relief, at that time the same thing will give us suffering.

So, we are in this bio-mechanism called the body, if we think that I am the body then we think that going on giving pleasure and sensation to the body is the goal of life. Then we always have to be adapting to the changing environment. Now, ok we have summer, so that we have to spend all our time in the ice cream shops and running here and there everywhere we have to everything to keep cool. Then in the cold weather, everything we have to do keep warm.

So, if someone gets too bewildered by these things then they think this is the goal of life. Rather we have to be practical, what we need to be healthy, what do we need to survive and have a peaceful mind. If the body is too much demanding a lot from us naturally the mind will be very agitated and disturbed. So we need to also train the body and the mind by regulating our activities, understanding that this is not the goal of life, sense enjoyment is just a part of life.

But the real purpose of life is something much higher. That is also explained in the next, in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, there is a very beautiful verse which Prabhupāda quoted in text 46:

“The living entities are parts and parcels of Kṛṣṇa; therefore, revival of Kṛṣṇa consciousness by the individual living entity is the highest perfectional stage of Vedic knowledge.

This is confirmed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.33.7) as follows: 

aho bata śva-paco ’to garīyān yaj-jihvāgre vartate nāma tubhyam
tepus tapas te juhuvuḥ sasnur āryā brahmānūcur nāma gṛṇanti ye te

Translation: O my Lord, a person who is chanting Your holy name, although born of a low family like that of a caṇḍāla [dog-eater], is situated on the highest platform of self-realization. Such a person must have performed all kinds of penances and sacrifices according to Vedic rituals and studied the Vedic literatures many, many times after taking his bath in all the holy places of pilgrimage. Such a person is considered to be the best of the Āryan family.”

So, the goal of Vedas is to know Kṛṣṇa. If we are chanting:

“Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare”

then that means we are already in touch with Kṛṣṇa. So all of the rituals purpose is served, the real purpose is to be in touch with Kṛṣṇa. That is to be a yogī, yoga means to link up, if we are a yogī we are linked with Kṛṣṇa. We are in touch with Kṛṣṇa, so immediately by this process of chanting

“Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare”

we can be brought into touch with Kṛṣṇa. This is the wonderful, wonderful thing. Usually what is happening in this world is, people they are suffering. Material life is filled up with various types of obstacles and people are struggling to overcome the obstacles. If they get a little relief from the obstacles than they think that now, life has become a success whether someone is really happy or not.

Sometime you go to the hospital, someone is there with the saline, maybe also even tube is going down the nose, so many they are having respiration machine, different things are going. You ask, how are you doing? If he is feeling little less pain than before if it little tolerable, then he says very fine!

But what is fine? He is in a very difficult position! But this is our situation. We are used to suffering. If we get little relief, we think aah!!! very good. Like if we are very hot, then fan is blowing, we feel some relief. OK, very fine, very good. This is our nature. If we are feeling very cold, as soon as we get a nice warm blanket, then we feel oh! very good. But this is not very, these are of course for the body, we need to keep cool or hot or warm whatever according to the environment. But this is not the perfection of the life. This is simply a part of the hard struggle for existence.

There is a story about the boat man, there was a boat man who was pulling his boat on the side of the Ganges. I don’t here by the Kāverī they also pull boat, they do also this system. Some boat man they are going and pulling their boat, walking on the side of the river, by one rope tied to the boat. He is walking and on the side of the river, there is some small stones, some thorns they are hurting his feet. Then thought what to do, when I am rich by doing my business, I will become a crorepati.

All the politicians are promising me everyone in India will be a crorepati. So, I will also be crorepati. I will just have to vote the right party, that’s all, so when I become a crorepati, then, what I will do is, I will line the side of the river with pillows. So then when I pull my boat, my feet will be on a very soft pillow. It won’t hurt my feet! good idea! Because the poor fellow, he couldn’t imagine that if he was a crorepati, why would he do pulling the boat? That he couldn’t think! He thinks that I have to go on in the same way. So, I will just put the pillows, and I will be, if he is a rich man he could put the pillows when they walk on the side, pulling the boat.

This is our situation, we are thinking how can I be happy in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We are so conditioned. We are thinking, when I am Kṛṣṇa conscious, when I am spiritually rich, then I will be able to have so many pillows on the side of my path. And you see we don’t think that when we are Kṛṣṇa conscious, these problems don’t come at all. These situations don’t occur in the same way because we are having a totally different purpose to our life.

So, we won’t be doing the same things which are creating the same problem actually in this way. Once there was a visitor came to the temple and stayed for three days. He was going to stay for two weeks, but he stayed for three days, then he said, I want to go, so why you want to go?

He said, I like this temple so much. This is completely giving me a new feeling to my life, so I have to go. [Devotees laughing]  So, you like it so much, that is changing your life, then why do you want to go?

No, because if I don’t go, then I will become so much attached to this way of life that when I go back to my house, how will I live?

No one will cook vegetarian food for me, no one is going to, I will be very much, you see in a difficult position. So, I better leave very quickly, because this is too nice. I like it too much, so he so much identified with his material problems and material situation, that he couldn’t imagine that if he was Kṛṣṇa conscious, somehow or other there would be a solution to whatever the problems he saw.

Solutions are always there, what problem we think are very big In material life, when we are Kṛṣṇa conscious the same problem may be there. But the problem becomes very small, because our own vision has become bigger, it is if we become bigger we can cross over the problem it becomes reduced In size like the impression of the cow’s calf in the mud. How much water, we can walk over easily, why when by devotional service we can cross over mṛtyu we can cross over the most difficult test of the life which is death. And we can go the other side of death without fear we can go back to Kṛṣṇa, then what compared to that with the other puny problems that come in our life. If someone cross over the biggest problem what are the small mosquito bite problems that are coming up, those we can brush away.

So, in order to become Kṛṣṇa conscious and get the special blessing, today is a very great day to make a commitment for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā mantra more and more regularly because today Balarāma has appeared in this world.

Lord Baladeva we discussed earlier today, he is the avatāra of the Lord. He is the first expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa, he is the origin of Saṅkarṣaṇa and of the Mahā Viṣṇu and other Viṣṇu form. By his grace everything is maintained, but Balarāma is also the first Guru. He comes to give us instruction about Kṛṣṇa. By blessing of Balarāma we can get bhakti for the Lord Kṛṣṇa this is His special mercy, so in order to reach Kṛṣṇa we need to go in the correct way. If we go to the devotees through the guru-paramparā then it is going through Balarāma then we can get to Kṛṣṇa easily.

If some reporter wants to meet the CM, the Chief Minister, if he just goes he may have great difficulty to meet him. There may be so many people wanting to perhaps if he meets it may be inadequate time, but if he knows someone close to the CM, then he can get the interview and he can print, present his paper and everything, we need to get some in between and go between.

Like that guru is considered the via media to bring us up to Kṛṣṇa. We are in a very fallen state, how can we get our message to Kṛṣṇa properly? So the guru is connecting us to Kṛṣṇa through Lord Balarāma. So the Guru is representing Balarāma, if we want to go, we need to go through the correct process. But sometimes you see people, they try to find what is the short cut. They want the easy way out, just like the man who tried to eat the gur, to steal the gur with his elbow, you know that example.

There was once a poor man and he wanted to have a little gur, you know gur, jaggery. What you call here gur, vellam, vella, velā, velā, vila very nice. But he had no money so he went to the store keeper and he asked a little vela, little jaggery, store keeper said, put your money and take the gur, no money no vela. So the poor man he was thinking, how can I get some vela so he saw one shop had a big barrel of liquid vela and he made a plan I will just go and act a little foolish. And lean as if I am leaning in the barrel and then my elbow will go inside the barrel oh! [Guru Mahārāja makes sound like something made accidentally like that] Accident what happens, then I will go out and eat the gur. So then he went and put on this drama you know ah! Ooh! sorry what a mess. And he went out into the forest then he said now I can enjoy. Now I can enjoy the gur but then he is trying to eat. Can you do it just try can you eat gur, vela off your elbow. What do you think you are feeling shy, haha very tough, somehow the body is not designed for the mouth to reach the elbow. At least mine maybe anyone can try [Guru Mahārāja laughing] . Anyone can achieve success it very difficult, some one is suggesting if two people do they can feed each other, that is the necessity is the mother of invention.

The point is that is, in this material world we want to enjoy we make so many plans but it is like trying to eat the gur off the elbow. Ultimately we are not able to enjoy because we are not this bio mechanism. We are not this material machinery called the body, we are actually the ātmā within the body. And ātmā has its own happiness plus even if we use this example he wants to achieve spiritual happiness, but there is this person he wants to cheat and sneak and get it in some dishonest way. You see, He doesn’t have the requisite money to buy, he is trying to take it by some way hook or crook. If we want to get to Kṛṣṇa, we need to accumulate the Bhakti money, the bhakti wealth, that we can get by the mercy of Guru we can get by following the actual process in chanting

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare,
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

This is the way to [Not Clear 19:39]  very quickly our good spiritual fortune, see we shouldn’t try to make a short cut and get cut off the whole path.

The shortest path is the straight route, Kṛṣṇa says the straight route is bhakti. Straight route is devotional service. The other routes even jñāna and the mystic yoga aṣṭāṇga-yoga, these routes he said adhika kleśa, very too much difficulty to go on those routes. Those are not direct routes those are very indirect troublesome routes, because people don’t want to accept Kṛṣṇa is the Lord. And simply by doing his devotion we can get back to Kṛṣṇa, they want to consider themselves the doer, so they create so many difficulties by their false ego.

So, Kṛṣṇa gives them a way but that way is by definition more difficult. So while people are intelligent why take the difficult way when the easy way is available. Easy way means is direct route. May not be that easy for people who are successful today, too attached to material enjoyment and too attached to the opulence of life. And bewildered by those things, then it is difficult for them to fix the mind.

But somehow people who are too attached to sense enjoyment, what is the good example, you can think of who is too attached to sense enjoyment. In every one of your family, there is someone who is too attached all the children, children are by definition very much attached to sense enjoyment. Most of them, because the nature of the children is they don’t have any spiritual knowledge. So they are always saying give me ice cream, give me candy, they may even feast and 5 minutes later on they will say I am very hungry. I want something else right, their senses are on fire mainly eating and playing, watching TV this and that something. So as people the children’s sense are very much, we have to direct them to do their studies. To do anything constructive requires lot of effort on part of the parents isn’t it. To make them understand that there is something more important than the sense enjoyment that they are attached to, that is the part of their growing process.

So mainly you tell people know you study, when you graduate you will get a good job you get lots of money and then you can be happy. So we postpone our desires all our life, I will put desires on the back track. I will study hard get my degree, get a good job, get lots of money then I will be happy right. Then people go through the whole study process get their degree and no job than. They feel I got cheated, my parents told me to study everyone told me to study, I studied know I got no job. Even if they get job with the job they are still not feeling happy then they think what to do now? So like this life is complicating we get too attached and what happens by all this attachment, it is very hard to fix the mind.

But Lord Caitanya he is so merciful that although in Gītā it is saying it is very difficult for such people, just like the children, when it is a feast they like to take some sweet first. They don’t like to wait till the end going through all the vegetables and rasam and sambar. They like to go right to the pāyasam but normally the parents say no, no, first eat all the other things. So if you give the choice they may give right to the pāyasam this is the nature of the children. They like to sweets. Garuḍa Purāṇa says that if you want to please a child give him a sweet, if you want to please a paṇḍita, give him some good knowledge, like that different kind of people have different things they like. Now Caitanya Mahāprabhu he is giving us the sweet first, if we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa dance in His kīrtana raise our hands before Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma,

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare,
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Very quickly we can feel some spiritual bliss, some spiritual peace, some happiness which normally one would only feel after many, many years of practice. But even within a few days and weeks, even some people only a few hours they can feel this happiness, spiritual happiness.

So, Lord Caitanya is giving, first you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, He is giving first some immediate dessert, some immediate pāyasam. You see, we are very much eager to get into the nectar that makes it easier to control the senses. Even people are attached to sense enjoyment, if they get a higher taste than they can control. Say some one is eating in a hotel and, some one is saying this hotel is no good that hotel over there is much better, cheaper better, good food lets go there chalo. So then he goes to that hotel finds it very good so he forgets the other hotel, forget it, no need this is better.

So, Lord Caitanya is showing you why are you sticking with this dry desert of sense gratification which only produces suffering in due course. When you can have the pure happiness which doesn’t produce any suffering.

In the material world, whatever we are getting happiness today same thing gives us suffering right? the fan is giving us happiness same fan will give us suffering in winter. By chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa summer, winter, spring any time it always gives us happiness no problem.

This is the special mercy of Lord Caitanya, we can get happiness without being dependent upon this temporary situation. Though situation we adjust, we are allowed to adjust something that is not a big, that doesn’t, that is so we can conveniently go on with our important activity which is chanting. And becoming good devotees of Kṛṣṇa.

So, through our life we should arrange things so that our priority is to be a devotee of the Lord. Whatever we are doing in our life, whatever our material duties are they should be done in such a way that we can always remember Kṛṣṇa.

So in Vraja-dhāma, everyone is busy, the gopīs, the elderly gopīs are churning the butter. But what they are doing making butter, they are singing “govinda jaya jaya gopāla jaya jaya,  govinda jaya jaya gopāla jaya jaya” right, they are always chanting Govinda Gopāla so this way they are always Kṛṣṇa conscious. They are always thinking about Kṛṣṇa. In Vraja dhāma what is the wonderful thing Lord Caitanya said they have the most perfect way to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. It is all natural no artificial imposition they are naturally devoted to Kṛṣṇa.’

So, Lord Caitanya said in the same way we can also be always chanting Kṛṣṇa’s name. We can be associating with devotees, we can be feasting on Kṛṣṇa prasādam. In this way our life can also be perfected. We can create that Vṛndāvana mood. So here our Kṛṣṇa Balarāma temple is bringing the mood of Vṛndāvana to you, here in Bangalore. We hope that you take advantage be in a blissful life and you also take inspiration. And make your own house into a Vṛndāvana-dhāma, into a holy temple of Lord Kṛṣṇa and spread this consciousness to everyone. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy, Hare Kṛṣṇa.

So, I left a little time here for questions, any one has any question?

Devotee: Difference between avatāra and expansion?

An avatār and expansion well avatāra, expansion means Kṛṣṇa is explained that in Brahmā Saṁhitā, Lord Brahmā is explaining if you take one candle and light another candle then both the candles are having equal power isn’t it?

But the first candle is not diminished so expansion is like that. When Kṛṣṇa expands, he is duplicating his own potency either 100% or 96% or 80 some percent. He is not diminished at all. So that expansion maybe in spiritual world or may. When that expansion comes down to the material world, he is called avatāra. Sometimes Kṛṣṇa may empower some living entity to have divine powers. And they come in the material world to perform some special activities for uplifting the fallen souls.

Anyone coming from the spiritual world to material world for delivering the fallen soul is called avatāra. If he is Viṣṇu-tattva, if he is Viṣṇu or someone or a entity empowered by Viṣṇu. If someone is not empowered by Viṣṇu like that or in a very natural way than they are considered like an ācārya. He is not considered avatāra because he is not a Viṣṇu-tattva but he is considered to be blessed by Kṛṣṇa for giving out mercy to the conditioned soul. But avatāra means he has to have certain qualification are there.

So that way avatāra simply means avataraṇa, who Is descending from the spiritual world and expansion means who is expanding from Kṛṣṇa. In many cases Balarāma, He is an expansion, He is also avatāra because He came. Nārāyaṇa never comes to this material world in his Nārāyaṇa form, He comes in Viṣṇu form but Nārāyaṇa, He remains in Vaikuṇṭha, if He come here, He expands as Viṣṇu than Viṣṇu comes. So Viṣṇu is the expansion of Kṛṣṇa who comes in the material world He is also avatāra but Nārāyaṇa He doesn’t come so far that we know. If He wants of course He can come, He comes in his form as Viṣṇu, slight but hardly any difference technical difference only.

Any other question? Kya bola?

Devotee: [Inaudible 31:25]

Could someone echo what did he say. Do film, yes if you like do so, we will give you the support, some of our devotees have this project. Here in this temple there will be many short films being shown for the education of the visitors. We have done many films also “Hare Kṛṣṇa world” then “Life Comes from Life” then “Your ever well-wisher” some movie are there. Movies means those who like are making movies will like to convince them that they should make a nice movies about Kṛṣṇa Consciousness themes. Since we are not In that line it is very risky business. Those who are experts they should do that, but we are also doing in a small scale for our own selected audience. And those we do have disciples in our movement who are doing that. It is one of the permitted activities in our constitution.

Any other question yes, If I tell you yes will you believe me, why how will you know?

That way anyone could say yes or no, if they say yes it makes the whole thing cheap. Whether someone has seen Kṛṣṇa or not that the Bhagavad-gītā says you can tell by seeing his symptom. If he is so much attached to Kṛṣṇa that he is always chanting Kṛṣṇa’s name serving Kṛṣṇa. Fully attached to Kṛṣṇa that means you can understand that he is in touch with Kṛṣṇa. He has experienced and seen Kṛṣṇa in various ways, but someone says I have seen Kṛṣṇa in Bengal there was such a guy. He is saying I have seen Kṛṣṇa he said why I am Kṛṣṇa and he is smoking cigarette, but why God smoking cigarette?

He said this is my līlā, so he was you can say he was known as beedi Bhagavān, he was the only Bhagavān to be smoking beedis. Like this you see people they say so many things and people like say yes, I have faith but Śrīla Prabhupāda, he didn’t want to make such a tall statement. Because there are so many people exploiting the faith of the innocent people about that. This is in Vedas was it is more important that to see what is actually the characteristics of someone’s life.

I can fool you by telling you something but my life will tell another story. If someone is always occupied in Kṛṣṇa’s service is having only regulated approved type of sense gratification not doing anything sinful. This one can notice easily, but these all these people who are claiming big claim many of them they are also doing obviously sinful things which no avatāra or no ācārya will do.

Somehow in South, people are still too intelligent to let such beedi Bhagavān to get a spark. I think Guru sent him and somehow in the North these people get a chance. We hope that, that will remain that everyone should not fall for these things. Actually we can see Kṛṣṇa even through our ears. By hearing His holy name, hearing Kṛṣṇa is not less than seeing him, seeing with these eyes is not very important because these eyes have only limited capabilities. The ears are more directly connected with the heart and with the ātmā, so by experiencing Kṛṣṇa by hearing His glories.

Just like how Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa although they are the Supreme Lord, they are playing with the cowherd boys. They are going with the cows in the forest, what a wonderful thing, the Lord He allows himself to be so approachable by all of his devotees right. If you think about the big leader, nobody can get near him he is very unapproachable. So like that even God you feel that He is very distant very great how we can approach. This is true he is very great but He has got a very intimate side to him that if we fully become His devotee, He can make us his dear friend, He can make us His dear friend, He can embrace us, He can bring us into His own playground and we can just associate with Him, such a wonderful thing.

So, by hearing the name of the Lord, the glories of the Lord that can immediately give us some vision of the Lord as well. So there are various ways we can see the Lord. In fact today we had an abhiṣeka, these deities are also an avatāra of the Lord. So all of you are seeing this arca-avatāra of the Lord, everyone here can say that I have seen Kṛṣṇa there is also Kṛṣṇa & Balarāma they have come in this worshipable deity form.

So, in various ways we are seeing Kṛṣṇa and someone may see Kṛṣṇa fully on the spiritual plane. It is very difficult to ascertain, but you can know how close is one to Kṛṣṇa by their nature and activity and this is a better way of testing rather than asking someone because even a cheater may say yes, I have seen Kṛṣṇa but they may not have seen they may just say. Hare Kṛṣṇa, so everyone chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy.

Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Second Level Proofer: Karuṇāpati Keśava das

Second Level Proofed on: 23 Feb-2021